The utility and enjoyment of computer systems can be enhanced by providing better user interfaces. User interfaces for computers systems have evolved significantly since the personal computer (PC) first became widely available. Early PCs were limited to user input devices, such as the keyboard and serial mouse, and were primarily text-based. However, a vast improvement in the speed and the power of microprocessors, greater availability of low-cost memory, and improved programming functionality have all contributed to the creation of much more sophisticated user interface designs and hardware, and the development of much more user-friendly graphic operating systems.
One particular area of advancement in user interface technology pertains to the recent development of an interactive display, to which a number of commonly assigned patent applications have been directed. An interactive display presents graphic images to a user on a flat surface, such as the top of a table or other housing format. In addition, this surface is responsive to input by a user. A PC is coupled to the interactive display to provide the processing power that yields a rich user interactive experience, offering more sophisticated command and interface features, and a far more natural interactive approach in providing input to the system, particularly as related to displayed images.
Interactive display systems that have been developed typically employ specialized optical systems adapted for projecting images and for detecting user input. An optical user input detection system can be based on illuminating a surface of the interactive display with infrared light, which is invisible to a user and does not interfere with the display of images by a projection system or other form of display device. With these types of detection systems, any objects that are located on or near the surface of the display will reflect the infrared light back to the detection system, where it can be detected as user input.
Interactive displays are thus being developed with the capability to process the signals produced in response to the non-visible light reflections from an object placed on or near the display surface, to determine the size, geometry, and even the trajectory of the object. This functionality of an interactive display provides a technological platform for developing completely new applications that were not possible with prior generations of conventional user interfaces. For example, this form of interactive display lends itself to simultaneous use by multiple users positioned around the interactive display surface. However, tracking multiple users of an interactive display system presents a challenge, particularly if the users are allowed to simultaneously access different individual user accounts or profiles that are associated with use of the interactive display system.
This new type of interactive display provides an opportunity for users to more efficiently conduct online commerce, since a user can readily interact with and navigate within programs and websites using gestures and by moving objects around on the display surface. However, in addition to simply selecting input options, an interactive display can assist in completing transactions in other ways. Frequently, consumers shopping online for clothing are required to select a size for an item in order to complete a transaction. For example, shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, and gloves are all items that are available in different sizes. However, users may not recall the correct size for an item such as a glove. It would be desirable to employ the imaging capability of an interactive display to directly determine the size of user's hand, thereby enabling the correct size of glove to be determined. Also, user profiles can be associated with biometric data such as hand sizes, so that the sizing of other articles of clothing stored in association with the profile of each user of an interactive display can readily be recalled from memory to complete a size selection during an online transaction. Therefore, interest currently exists in employing interactive displays and developing appropriate software for biometric measurements that can be employed to facilitate user identification and provide other functionality.